Dispenser for screw top containers



Sept. 25, 1956 w, KEENAN 2,764,323

DISPENSER FOR SCREW TOP CONTAINERS Filed Oct. 19, 1954 lllll l\ lllllINVENTOR.

United States Patent Qflice Patented Sept. 25, 1956 DISPENSER FOR SCREWTOP CONTAINERS William Keenan, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application October 19, 1954, Serial No. 463,115 2 Claims. (Cl. 222-363)the contents and when not in use, serving as the container closuremeans.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus ofthe above character which may be conveniently manufactured from a fewreadily molded plastic parts which .are easily assembled into thecompleted dispenser.

A further object of the invention is to provide a dispenscr of the abovecharacter in which the dispensing apparatus is designed for attachmentto standard screw threaded container closure caps.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a dispensing deviceof the above character which is economical to manufacture and isreliable in use.

With the foregoing objects in view, together with such additionalobjects and advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention residesin the parts, and in the construction, combination and arrangement ofparts disclosed, by way of example, in the following specification of asatisfactory embodiment of the invention; reference being had to theaccompanying drawings which form a part of said specification and inwhich drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a container having a dispenser embodyingthe present invention applied thereto; the container being shown inupright or storage position,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevation of the containerinverted with the dispenser attached thereto in position for dispensingthe container contents,

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the left hand end of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a medial sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3,showing the dispenser valve element in the position to receive contentsfrom the container,

Fig. 5 is a medial sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2showing the valve element turned to dispensing position,

Fig. 6 is a reduced scale, top plan view of Fig. 5; portions beingbroken away to show details of construction, and

Fig. 7 is an exploded, side elevation-a1 view of the component parts ofthe illustrated embodiment of the invention.

Broadly, the illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises astationary frame assembly generally designated by the numeral 1 .and aoscillatable valve assembly mounted in the frame assembly and designatedby the numeral 2. The frame assembly includes a frame member 3 having afunnel-like opening 4 terminating in a flange surface 5 including anannular rib 6 which projects through an opening 7 in a screw threadedcap 8 adapted to be substituted for the cap normally closing the mouthof the container to which the dispenser is to be applied. At one pointin its periphery, the rib 6 is interrupted by a notch 9 into which aradially inwardly projecting tongue 10 in the periphery of the capopening 7 extends to prevent turning of the frame member-in the cap. Aring 11 having a shoulder 12 engages the inner surface of the rib 6 andlies on the inner surface of the cap; the frame'mem'ber and ringpreferably being formed from plastic moldings and the ring 11 beingcemented to the inner face of the rib 6 to complete the assembly of thecap and frame member. The inner surface of the ring is shaped to formthe upper portion of the funnel portion 4 when the container anddispenser are inverted for a dispensing operation as shown in Figs. 2and 4.

The dispensing valve assembly 2 comprises a hollow cylindrical valveelement 13 having an opening 14 in the side thereof for reception anddischarge of dispensed material and an open end closed by an end plate15 having a raised portion 1 6 closely fitting within the innerperiphery of the side wall 17 of the valve element and including aradially extending portion 18 of the same radial dimension as the outerface of said side wall extending across the opening 14 and completingthe bearing surface of that end of the valve element in engaging thebearing portion 19 of the frame member 3. The opposi-te end wall 20 ofthe valve member 13 is formed integrally with the side wall and includesan outwardly projecting stub shaft 21 disposed in axial alignment withthe axial line of the valve member'body; said stub shaft extendingthrough a bearing portion 22 on the frame member 3 and externallythereof engaging the hollow stem 23 of a hand' knob 24 (see Fig. 4). Thevalve member assembly parts are all formed of plastic wherefore they canbe readily assembled in permanent form by cementing them together; theabove described separate parts being readily molded by injectionmolding. The

end plate 15 includes an annular flange portion 25 which engages theouter face of the bearing portion 19 of the frame member and the end ofthe hand knob stem 23 similarly engages the outer face of the bearingportion 22 and cooperates with the flange 25 to secure the valve elementagainst endwise movement. Additionally, the flange 25 carriessubstantially diametrically oppositely radially extending stop lugs 26and 27 adapted to engage a stop member 28 projecting laterally from theside of the bearing member portion 19 (see Fig. 3) and serving,respectively, to position the opening 14 of the valve member either inposition to receive material from the container (-see Fig. 4) or todischarge received material (see Fig. 5). In this connection, it is tobe noted that the projection 18 of the end plate 15 by its engagementwith the side wall 17 of the valve member is correctly positioned sothat the lugs 26 and 27 are properly positioned with respect to theopening 14 of the valve opening, and that said projection additionallyserves to complete the required cylindrical bearing surface of the valvemember for engagement with the interior of the bearing portion 19 of theframe member 3.

Preferably, the end plate 15 is first cemented into the end of the valvemember and the completed valve member is then inserted into the framemember and secured therein by assembly of the hand knob thereto.

The assembled dispensers are then ready for assembly into caps of thedesired size for use with specific containers; such containers beingmade with about four standard sizes of threaded openings. The assembleddispenser is then inserted into the selected size of screw cap andsecured therein by cementing the ring 11 thereon.

In use, the dispenser is attached to the desired container in place ofthe regular cap therefor and the con- 3 ta-iner is inverted. Rotation ofthe handknob to the position in which the lug 26 engages the stop member28 positions the opening 14 of the valve member in alignment with thefunnel opening 4 of the frame member with resultant flow of thecontainer contents into the valve member. Rotation of the valve memberto the point at which the lug 27 engages the stop member will bring theopening 14 to the position shown in Fig. 6 with resultant discharge ofthe contents of the valve member; the side wall 17 serving at the sametime to cut off further flow of the contents of the container.Generally, beverage forming fluent materials such as soluble coffees,powdered milk and like products are directed to be used in quantities ofone or more teaspoons and for general use, the above described dispenserwould be dimensioned to hold one teaspoonful, but for some uses thevalve member might be differently dimensioned. When not in use, thedevice is preferably moved to the position shown in Fig. since the jointbetween the valve member and the contacting surfaces of the frame memberincluding the bearing surface of the bearing portion 19, the engagementbetween the outer surface of the end wall 20 of the valve member withthe inner face of the bearing portion 22 of the frame member, and thebearing of the outer surface of the side wall 17 of the valve memberwith the similarly curved portions 29 of the frame member extendingbetween the upper portions of the bearing portions 19 and 22 issufficiently close to form an adequate seal.

Thus there has been created a dispenser for use with screw topcontainers which is simple in construction and readily manufactured frominjection molded parts and which can be readily substituted for thescrew top caps used for such containers. It is appreciated that in thelight of the foregoing disclosure changes and modifications may suggestthemselves to others skilled in the art to which the inventionappertains. Therefore, the inventionis not to be deemed to be limited tothe exact form thereof above disclosed by way of example, and it will beunderstood that the invention includes all such modifications andchanges in the parts, and in the construction, combination andarrangement of parts as shall come within the purview of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a means for dispensing measured amounts of fluent materials from ascrew top container and attachable to the container in place of thescrew cap normally employed to close the container, the combination ofan internally threaded cap engageable with the threads on the containerand having an opening in the end thereof, and a dispensing meansattached to said opening in said cap; said dispensing means comprising aframe member having a funnel portion affording communication from saidcontainer to a dispensing valve means, a first bearing member projectingfrom one side of said frame member and having a circular openingextending therethrough, a second bearing member projecting from theopposite side of said frame member and having a circular openingextending therethrough disposed in axial alignment with said opening insaid first bearing member, a valve member journalled in said bearingmembers for oscillation between a position receiving material from thecontainer and another position discharging received material; said valvemember comprising a hollow, cylindrical body portion having an openingin the side thereof and an integrally formed end wall at one endthereof; said end wall including a stub shaft disposed axially withrespect to said body portion and journalled in said opening in saidsecond bearing member, an end plate closing the opposite of said bodyportion and including a portion fitting with-in the inner periphery ofsaid body portion and another portion completing the circular outerperiphery of said body portion with resultant formation of a circularbearing surface journalled in said opening in said first bearing member,a fixed abutment on said first frame member, a pair of spaced abutmentson said end plate engageable with said fixed abutment with resultantdetermination of said mate-rial receiving and discharging positions, anda hand knob connected to said stub shaft ex-teriorly of said secondbearing member and cooperating with said end Wall by engagement with theopposite side surfaces of said second bearing member to secure saidvalve member against endwise movement.

2. A dispensing means as claimed in claim 1 in which the end of saidfunnel portion remote from said valve member is attached to thecontainer cap and includes an annular wall portion projecting throughthe container cap opening; said wall being interrupted by a transverseslot and said opening in the container cap including a tongue extendinginto said opening with resultant prevention of relative rotation betweenthe cap and the dispensing means, and a ring secured to the interiorsurface of said wall and thence overlying the inner surface of said capeffective to secure the dispensing means to the cap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,053,169 Gillespie Feb. 18, 1913 1,772,377 Whittle Aug. 5, 19302,122,695 Podwyszynski July 5, 1938

